Domestic terrorism“Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists” Pose “Most Lethal” Threat to Homeland: DHS, FBI

A joint report from the FBI and the DHS  on domestic violent extremism (DVE) warns that lone wolf attackers, who have ready access to weapons, pose the most serious terrorism threat to the United States.

The report notes that the number of people killed by racially motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) has been on the rise every year since 2017.

The report says that 2019 was “the most lethal year” for DVEs since 1995 — with 32 people killed, 24 of them by white supremacists.

The covers data from 2017 to 2019.

“In 2019, the FBI and DHS assessed RMVEs (Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists), primarily those advocating for the superiority of the white race, likely would continue to be the most lethal DVE threat to the Homeland,” the report said. “Our agencies had high confidence in this assessment based on the demonstrated capability of RMVEs in 2019 to select weapons and targets to conduct attacks, and the effectiveness of online RMVE messaging calling for increased violence.”

Over the 2017-2019 period, there were 57 domestic terrorism-related deaths, 47 of them racially motivated, mostly by white supremacists.

“Political disagreements within the United States could present opportunities for DVEs to engage in violence against individuals perceived to have opposing ideologies, prominent political or public figures, or members of the media covering these events,” the report says, referring to domestic violent extremists.

Fox New reports that on Friday, DHS issued a terrorism threat bulletin update, which warned that “through 2020 and into 2021, government facilities and personnel have been common targets” of domestic violent extremists. “Historically, mass-casualty Domestic Violent Extremist (DVE) attacks linked to racially- or ethnically-motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) have targeted houses of worship and crowded commercial facilities or gatherings,” the bulletin said.

The report notes that while the number of deaths related to domestic terrorism and racially motivated extremism has risen in recent years, the number of arrests has gone down, according to the report.

From fiscal year 2015 through 2019, nearly 850 individuals associated with domestic terrorism were arrested by or in coordination with the FBI. In fiscal year 2016, approximately 229 arrests were made, compared to 107 in fiscal year 2019.

In each of the fiscal year from 2017 though 2019, the FBI conducted about 1,000 domestic terrorism investigations.

The joint FBI-DHS report is mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020. It was sent to Congress nearly one year past the original deadline.
The report was originally supposed to be sent to Congress in June 2020. CNN reported in February that Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Chairman Gary Peters (D-Michigan) and Ranking Member Rob Portman (R-Ohio) sent a letter to the FBI and DHS  demanding the agencies produce the report by 1 March.